Judge's horror at 'depravity, violence' in child porn video

A HORRIFIED Ipswich judge has sentenced a 39-year-old man for child pornography offences.

Ipswich District Court heard how the man suffered sexual abuse as a child, telling police the reason he had been searching the material online was because he had been looking for footage of the offenders who abused him years earlier. Some of the content showed the abuse of the baby.

The man told a psychiatrist it was a needle-in-a-haystack search, and that his interest in child exploitation material was only "to see if I could jag the person who offended against me in the '80s".

Material before the court found the abuse inflicted upon him as a child likely affected his brain development, and had been a cause of a post-traumatic stress disorder and a depressive disorder.

Judge Alexander Horneman-Wren SC said while the man did not have huge quantities of child pornography, as seen in many criminal cases, "some of the material, particularly the category 5 videos, were utterly horrific, and disturbing in their content".

"They involve extreme acts of violence, depravity against a child as young as two," Judge Horneman-Wren said.

"The content of a 14-minute video is almost inconceivable in the abuse committed upon a child witnessed in the presence of others. Let alone recorded and shared with others."

He said another video depicted the sexual abuse of an infant.

Judge Horneman-Wren said the defendant had a previous conviction of indecent treatment committed against his then-11-month-old daughter.

He said it was a very unusual case with the man going to police and confessing.

"You were shocked by your own conduct and removed yourself from all contact (with the child)," Judge Horneman-Wren said.

He noted, however, that the man in material put before the court was suggesting his confession had been a false one.

In the Crown case prosecuted by Farook Anoozer, the man, a disability pensioner, pleaded guilty to distributing child exploitation material; possession of child exploitation material; and using a carriage service to access child pornography.

Defence barrister Justin Thomas said the offences were serious and outlined the man's diagnosed psychiatric illness and personality issues.

Judge Horneman-Wren said the man walked into an Ipswich police station saying he touched the child for 15 seconds. But now, many years later, he said his initial statement had been a false confession, even telling the doctor he had no sexual interest in children.

"He says he was searching the internet to see if he could find the people who were doing this. To see if I can find the people who abused me," Judge Horneman-Wren said.

"Not to minimise the horrific abuse he suffered (in the late 1980s and '90s) but it was a time when there was no digital recording or internet.

"If that was the purpose, then why keep a 14-minute film of the abduction and rape of a two-and-a-half-year-old child, witnessed and laughed upon by others present?"

Judge Horneman-Wren said medical reports viewed the impact of the man's own abuse affected his development.

"On the evidence before me, there is no doubt these offences find their root cause in your psychiatric condition," he said. "Both (medical reports) highlight your history of significant horrific childhood abuse."

Judge Horneman-Wren said ongoing psychiatric treatment was central to rehabilitation.

The man was sentenced to 18 months' jail, suspended for four years. He was released to a $1000 good behaviour bond, with a three-year supervised probation order.